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Investor files suit against Palm House

Meghan McCarthy
Palm House hotel-condominium on Royal Palm Way as seen in September.

Posted: 3:51 p.m. Thursday, November 17, 2016

An investor in the Palm House filed suit this week demanding that the limited liability company turn over its records for the last three years to ensure her half-million dollar investment was used properly.

The suit was filed Monday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court by attorneys on behalf of Maria Titova. It names Palm House Hotel LLLP as the defendant, alleging that the company failed to respond to a written request from Titova in September to see the records.

Court records show that this is the sixth open lawsuit filed in county court that lists a Palm House-related LLC as a defendant.

The suit comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit also filed Monday in the U.S. District Court’s West Palm Beach Division that alleges the Palm House was at the center of a $50 million international fraud scheme. That suit names 58 Chinese and Iranian plaintiffs who claim that they were swindled into contributing to an EB-5 program that would create jobs at the Palm House in exchange for visas for investors.

Titova, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, was not named in the federal lawsuit.

In her suit, Titova claims that she invested $500,000 into Palm House Hotel LLLP. The suit says Titova sent a letter to the company, which was served on or about Oct. 11, demanding to inspect and copy the company’s records, including cash flow statements, meeting minutes, shareholder information and correspondence regarding the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The suit states that Titova wants to view the documents to see if her investment was being used properly “or was embezzled or otherwise improperly used by the general partner, officers, managers, or managing members of the corporation.”

In addition to viewing the records, Titova’s suit asks that the defendant pays court costs and attorney fees.

Her attorney, Roman Groysman, whose office is in Fort Lauderdale, did not respond to a phone message Thursday.

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